Independent ICP Testing Lab — ICP-OES Analysis Services Since 1957
One of the Northeast’s independent ICP labs — defensible elemental analysis for catalysts, battery materials, ores and concentrates, petroleum, and pharmaceutical raw materials.
A full-service ICP testing lab for industrial elemental analysis
Sterling Analytical Laboratory is an independent ICP testing lab that has delivered accurate elemental analysis since 1957, making us one of the longest-established ICP labs in the Northeast. When you need to know precisely which metals and elements are present in a material — and at what concentration — we provide ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy) analysis backed by the correct sample digestion for your matrix. Inaccurate prep is where most elemental results quietly go wrong, so we treat digestion as seriously as the instrument run. Clients who have been burned by faster, cheaper providers bring their settlement and QC work to us.
Our ICP analysis services answer the questions buyers, recyclers, refiners, and QC managers actually ask:
- How much palladium, platinum, or rhodium is in this spent catalyst?
- Does this lithium carbonate meet battery-grade impurity limits?
- What is the total rare earth content of this concentrate or magnet swarf?
- How much vanadium and nickel are in this crude or heavy fuel oil?
- What is the residual catalyst metal level in this API or fine chemical?
If your material can be digested or fused, we can quantify its elements by ICP-OES.
ICP-OES analysis with complete in-house digestion
ICP-OES delivers simultaneous, multi-element quantification across most of the periodic table at part-per-million levels — the workhorse technique for industrial, settlement, and QC work where ppm-level accuracy is what matters. What sets us apart from typical ICP labs is the range of digestion we run in-house, rather than forcing every sample through one procedure:
- Microwave and hot-block acid digestion — EPA 3050B, 3051A, and 3052
- HF (hydrofluoric) digestion with boric-acid complexation — for silicates, ores, glasses, and zeolite/alumina supports
- Borate fusion for refractory matrices — spodumene, zircon, ilmenite, and concentrates that resist standard acid attack
- Closed-vessel aqua regia and controlled dry-ash — for carbon-supported precious metals such as Pd/C and Pt/C
This HF and fusion capability is the single biggest differentiator in our catalyst, mining, and rare earth work — most small commercial labs cannot run these matrices and send them out.
Five industries we serve
- Refining & petrochemical
Fresh and spent catalyst assays, precious-metal (Pd, Pt, Rh) recovery valuation, and FCC equilibrium-catalyst trending. - Battery materials & recycling
Black mass assays, battery-grade lithium and sulfate analysis, pCAM precursor testing, and independent Certificate of Analysis verification for imported material. - Mining & rare earths
Ore and concentrate assays, total REE, NdPr oxide, and NdFeB magnet-recycling feed. - Petroleum & oilfield
Vanadium and nickel in crude, heavy fuel oil and residual metals, produced water, and wear metals in used oil by ASTM D5185 and D5708. - Pharmaceutical & fine chemical
Residual palladium and platinum-group catalyst residues in APIs and intermediates.
Settlement-grade results from a genuinely independent lab
Because we are genuinely independent — we neither buy, sell, nor recover the materials we test — our assay is a clean referee number you can present at settlement between parties. Every settlement-grade result is produced against CRM-verified calibrations, with duplicate and spike recoveries and retained sample splits, because when numbers settle money, the quality program is the product.
You can see exactly what you’ll receive before shipping a single sample: we publish a real, anonymized example Certificate of Analysis, something almost no competitor offers. Located at 15 Agawam Ave in West Springfield, Massachusetts, we serve clients across New England and the Mid-Atlantic and accept samples nationwide by carrier. Tell us your matrix, the elements you need, and your turnaround, and we’ll send a clear quote with reporting limits and pricing.